Visitors are spending more and staying longer when they explore regional Victoria, with visitation, spend and nights all experiencing double-digit growth.

The results are in and Victoria is welcoming more visitors than ever before, who are spending their valuable dollars at local businesses and backing local jobs.

Victoria welcomed almost 24million domestic visitors who spent about $13.3billion in the 12 months to September, with some of the strongest growth occurring in regional areas, according to the latest National Visitor Survey results.

Visitors are spending more and staying longer when they explore regional Victoria, with visitation, spend and nights all experiencing double-digit growth.

Regional Victoria welcomed a record 15.6million domestic visitors (up 15.1 per cent), who spent nearly $6billion at pubs, hotels and on activities across our regions (up 15.5 per cent).

Victoria’s growth is also well ahead of the national regional average when it comes to visitor nights, with our regions boasting an impressive jump of almost 13 per cent.

Ten of Victoria’s tourism regions recorded double-digit growth in domestic overnight visitors, including Gippsland (up 34.4 per cent), the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges (up 26.9 per cent), the Grampians (up 24.2 per cent), the Great Ocean Road (up 15.4 per cent), Geelong and the Bellarine (up 15.1 per cent) and the Murray (up 14.3 per cent).

Visitor spend and nights also grew in 10 regions, with strong growth in the Grampians, the Great Ocean Road, Gippsland, Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria’s High Country and Geelong and the Bellarine.

Those who opted to spend a single day in Victoria also spent more, up by 9.4 per cent to reach $5billion, bounding ahead of the national average.

Tourism and Major Events Minister John Eren said these results were providing enormous benefits for regional jobs, tourism and businesses.

‘‘More Australians are choosing to come to Victoria than ever before, and we’ll continue delivering the events and campaigns required to keep this momentum going,’’ he said.